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Monday, February 4, 2013

In the vast expanse of Marina Beach dotting the Bay of
Bengal, there are heritage buildings, Educational Institutions like the
Presidency College, Queen Mary’s College and many statues of Tamil poets,
freedom fighters and politicians ~
though this is not exactly the binder, one can say it is from ‘Labour Statue’
opposite Ezhilagam to ‘Gandhi Statue’ opposite to IG Office. Incidentally,
both were sculpted by Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury.

Chennai, the old Madras had its date with Indian freedom. The spot opposite PresidencyCollege
bears significance as this was the "Thilak Ghat”, from where the Tamil
National poet Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi sang three National patriotic song
to enthrall the audience of about more than 5000 people. The silver bed of
Marina Beach at Madras
was the venue where the great national leaders like Balagangadhara Thilakar,
Lala Lajpath Rai, Bipin Chandran Paul, Mahathma Gandhi, Subash Chandrabose,
C.R. Doss, Mahakavi Bharathi, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and others made their
clarion call to the people of the land to raise against the British rules. In
1908, Subramania Siva, a core patriotic and friend of Subramania Bharathi have
named this part of the Beach in Triplicane opposite to PresidencyCollege
as Tilak Ghat.

History has it that whenever, Mahathma Gandhi visited Madras, he used to
address big patriotic meeting at Tilakar Ghat. Over the years, it was Seerani
Arangam. A great patriot and freedom fighter, PN Srinivasan fought battles in
Court to have this renamed as ‘Thilagar Khattam’ again and have a plaque
installed here.

Inside Madras
(Chennai) there are many places like Fort St George known for their historic
significance. There is the house where
Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharathiyar lived. There are many more monuments which are not
exactly in the limelight. There are places in Madras visited by Mahtma Gandhi.

A plague in front of ‘Hotel Chola’ mentions of Gandhiji
having visited a building there. The
famous red building of The Hindu High School, Triplicane claims fame with the
visit of Mahatma Gandhi and his delivering a speech on 4th Sept
1927. There is another building in
Triplicane High Road which was Gandhiji visited and dined not once but
twice. Very few know the significance of
this building, where once was a Marriage hall named Nelson Kalyana
Chathiram; years later it turned out in to a shop selling fruits and fresh
vegetables (Triplicane Pazhamuthirsolai); later there was another Departmental stores;
presently the Sweet Shop ‘Grand Sweets and Snacks’ have their Triplicane branch
there. People now dine there without
realizing the historic significance of that place... there is no plague or
anyother mention of Gandhiji having visited there.

In fact, Chennai has
one hospital named after the wife of Gandhiji - Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi situate in Triplicane. It is known as Gosha hospital, a synonym for
the hospital which once catered to women
wearing purdah. This hospital was founded in 1885 has
rendered 125 years of service for the Women by the Women.

This particular landmark ~ standing on the 12-ft high
pedestal, Gandhi statue sure was not made when Gandhi
was alive, it was later unveiled by Jawaharlal Nehru on 14.4.1959, in a
function presided over by CM Mr. K
Kamaraj. This statue was sculpted by
Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury. Recently, it
was closed and kept off public eye as restoration work was undertaken by PWD
reportedly costing around 12 lakhs. The
exposure to saline air over the years has taken a toll, sources said. Granite stones
have been done in original colour; new anti-rust, steel grill with pipe
barricading encircles the statue and work done by Krishna Nagappa, a renowned sculptor.